John Quincy Adams July 11, 1767 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts - February 28, 1848 in the U.S. Capitol BuildingPolitical Party:FederalistàDemocratic-RepublicanàWhigServed from March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829 (1 term)Vice President: John C. Calhoun
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, had good intentions of bettering the nation by way of unification; however, his goals were never fully attained, making his administration worthy of a C ranking.
Adams’s reputation as the sixth president begins with the election of 1824, otherwise known as the “Corrupt Bargain.” The election consisted of four candidates: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. In the polls, Jackson won the popular vote and the Electoral vote; however, at that time, a person could only be made president if majority of the Electoral Votes. Since none of the candidates accomplished this goal, the vote was taken to the House of Representatives, as directed by the Twelfth Amendment. The Twelfth Amendment also allowed only three candidates to be up for the House of Representatives’ vote. Consequently, due to his lack of sufficient Electoral Votes, Henry Clay was disqualified; however, he did play a major role in the election process. At the time, Clay was Speaker of the House and therefore had the ability to command this arena. Speculation says that Clay and Adams, despite the fact that they were on opposite ends of the political party spectrum, struck up a deal which stated that Clay would procure Adams’s votes in the House if and only if Adams named Clay Secretary of State, a coveted seat in the executive branch. Speculation also states that Clay’s motivation was not just the highly esteemed title in government, but also Clay’s massive hatred of Jackson. When the votes were cast, Adams won the election with thirteen states to Jackson’s seven. This event put Adams in a corruptive light. He entered office with newly gained enemies and he was in desperate need to prove himself as the president in order to gain the respect of the nation.
Adams entered the presidency during a time of heightened sectionalism in America. While in office, Adams’s goals were always for a strong nationalistic country. In his inaugural address, given in 1825, Adams declared, “There still remains one effort of magnanimity… It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other; of embracing as countrymen and friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confidence which in times of contention for principle was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party communion…” Here, Adams is stating that, in order to form a more united nation, the citizens, despite their many differences, must come together and celebrate the goodness that each brings towards the betterment of America. Adams also said that a new era of politics must be ushered in; an era where people are honored and respected for their positive attributes and hard-working nature, rather than how much they bring monetarily to their individual political parties.
These goals were attempted during Adams’s days as president. His aims included the increased construction of internal improvements, such as the constructing of roads and canals, the addition of a national university, and an astronomical observatory. Adams also wanted to create a high tariff on imported manufactured goods, the majority of those goods stemming from New England, in order to protect the American industry and keep it competitive with foreign imports; hence, the Tariff of 1828 was created. The objectives of building roads and canals was somewhat accomplished by the creation of the Cumberland Road to Ohio and the establishment of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
During the election of 1824, Adams did not win the popular vote or the Electoral Vote in Congress, making him the obvious second choice for the presidency. However, due to the Corrupt Bargain, Adams was appointed as the sixth president of the nation. The apparent dislike of this choice for president didn’t please Congress; however, they were still willing to work with him on his unification and nationalistic viewpoints. The votes in Congress varied on many issues due to a sectional split in politics. The North was always concerned with pleasing its manufacturers, while the South and West were engulfed in fulfilling their own personal agendas to satisfy the frontier settlers and farmers. Adams was constantly torn between pleasing his hometown citizens of New England and the citizens of the South and West, home to the majority of the nation.
The most positive outcome of Adams’s administration was the internal improvements done throughout the nation. As stated, Adams’s ultimate goal for America was to increase nationalism. He believed that building more methods of cross-country transportation, creating national universities, and forming an astronomical observatory for scientific studies could accomplish that goal; all of which would be funded by the federal government. However, the people saw this plan as a highly ambitious and unneeded one. The people didn’t want their hard-earned money to go towards the construction of an unnecessary expense. The Southerners in particular were extremely unnerved and unhappy. They saw this plan as a way for the government to continue the tariff and to involve itself in the daily concerns of the state governments, such as education and roads, which may later lead to slavery. Inevitably, Congress was not fully behind Adams and the only improvements done were a westward extension of Cumberland Road into Ohio and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; two accomplishments out of the many that Adams initially planned for the nation.
In comparison, the most negative outcome of Adams’s presidency was by far, the Tariff of 1828 or the Tariff of Abominations. Earlier in the year, Adams proposed a high tariff on imported manufactured goods, the majority of which stemmed from New England, in order to protect the nation’s economy and keep American goods competitive with European goods. History states that many of Jackson’s supporters, mainly residing in the South, opposed this bill because it didn’t consider for the needs of Southern farmers; agriculturists relied on manufactured goods and wanted them at cheap prices but the profits from home-grown goods couldn’t afford these amenities. Therefore, they devised their own plan; they decided to amend Adams’s bill to include a tax on the raw materials that the Northern manufacturers needed. These plotters believed that the bill would ultimately be defeated in Congress; however, they were wrong. The extremely high tariff was so deeply despised by the south that Vice President Calhoun drafted the South Carolina Exposition claiming that the tariff was “unconstitutional, oppressive, and unjust.”
Adams’s decision of passing the Tariff of Abominations in 1828 affected the administration of Andrew Jackson, Adams’s successor. Adams created this infuriating tax and left it to Jackson; giving him the tariff’s negative outcomes. The nation broke out into rebellion and Jackson neared warfare, until Henry Clay’s proposal of the Tariff of 1833. This tariff suggested a lowering of the high tax by 10% over a period of eight years; and the proposal was quickly passed through Congress and made into law. This was the only lasting effect of Adams’s presidency.
In conclusion, Adams’s decisions made while in office didn’t leave the nation any better off than its condition before entering office. Adams was left with the daunting task of picking up where James Monroe left off. The time of Monroe’s presidency was notoriously known as the Era of Good Feelings and Adams had a hard time filling in his footsteps. Despite Adams’s addition of a road extending westward and a canal, he wasn’t able to accomplish some of his more ambitious goals. If anything, the Tariff of Abominations, the most negative outcome of Adams’s presidency, was the most memorable of all his decisions. Overall, Adams’s administration didn’t leave the nation in any better of a position; therefore, his presidency wholly deserves a C grading.
John Quincy Adams
July 11, 1767 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts - February 28, 1848 in the U.S. Capitol Building Political Party: Federalist à Democratic-Republican à Whig Served from March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829 (1 term)Vice President: John C. Calhoun
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, had good intentions of bettering the nation by way of unification; however, his goals were never fully attained, making his administration worthy of a C ranking.
Adams’s reputation as the sixth president begins with the election of 1824, otherwise known as the “Corrupt Bargain.” The election consisted of four candidates: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. In the polls, Jackson won the popular vote and the Electoral vote; however, at that time, a person could only be made president if majority of the Electoral Votes. Since none of the candidates accomplished this goal, the vote was taken to the House of Representatives, as directed by the Twelfth Amendment. The Twelfth Amendment also allowed only three candidates to be up for the House of Representatives’ vote. Consequently, due to his lack of sufficient Electoral Votes, Henry Clay was disqualified; however, he did play a major role in the election process. At the time, Clay was Speaker of the House and therefore had the ability to command this arena. Speculation says that Clay and Adams, despite the fact that they were on opposite ends of the political party spectrum, struck up a deal which stated that Clay would procure Adams’s votes in the House if and only if Adams named Clay Secretary of State, a coveted seat in the executive branch. Speculation also states that Clay’s motivation was not just the highly esteemed title in government, but also Clay’s massive hatred of Jackson. When the votes were cast, Adams won the election with thirteen states to Jackson’s seven. This event put Adams in a corruptive light. He entered office with newly gained enemies and he was in desperate need to prove himself as the president in order to gain the respect of the nation.
Adams entered the presidency during a time of heightened sectionalism in America. While in office, Adams’s goals were always for a strong nationalistic country. In his inaugural address, given in 1825, Adams declared, “There still remains one effort of magnanimity… It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other; of embracing as countrymen and friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confidence which in times of contention for principle was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party communion…” Here, Adams is stating that, in order to form a more united nation, the citizens, despite their many differences, must come together and celebrate the goodness that each brings towards the betterment of America. Adams also said that a new era of politics must be ushered in; an era where people are honored and respected for their positive attributes and hard-working nature, rather than how much they bring monetarily to their individual political parties.
These goals were attempted during Adams’s days as president. His aims included the increased construction of internal improvements, such as the constructing of roads and canals, the addition of a national university, and an astronomical observatory. Adams also wanted to create a high tariff on imported manufactured goods, the majority of those goods stemming from New England, in order to protect the American industry and keep it competitive with foreign imports; hence, the Tariff of 1828 was created. The objectives of building roads and canals was somewhat accomplished by the creation of the Cumberland Road to Ohio and the establishment of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
During the election of 1824, Adams did not win the popular vote or the Electoral Vote in Congress, making him the obvious second choice for the presidency. However, due to the Corrupt Bargain, Adams was appointed as the sixth president of the nation. The apparent dislike of this choice for president didn’t please Congress; however, they were still willing to work with him on his unification and nationalistic viewpoints. The votes in Congress varied on many issues due to a sectional split in politics. The North was always concerned with pleasing its manufacturers, while the South and West were engulfed in fulfilling their own personal agendas to satisfy the frontier settlers and farmers. Adams was constantly torn between pleasing his hometown citizens of New England and the citizens of the South and West, home to the majority of the nation.
The most positive outcome of Adams’s administration was the internal improvements done throughout the nation. As stated, Adams’s ultimate goal for America was to increase nationalism. He believed that building more methods of cross-country transportation, creating national universities, and forming an astronomical observatory for scientific studies could accomplish that goal; all of which would be funded by the federal government. However, the people saw this plan as a highly ambitious and unneeded one. The people didn’t want their hard-earned money to go towards the construction of an unnecessary expense. The Southerners in particular were extremely unnerved and unhappy. They saw this plan as a way for the government to continue the tariff and to involve itself in the daily concerns of the state governments, such as education and roads, which may later lead to slavery. Inevitably, Congress was not fully behind Adams and the only improvements done were a westward extension of Cumberland Road into Ohio and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal; two accomplishments out of the many that Adams initially planned for the nation.
In comparison, the most negative outcome of Adams’s presidency was by far, the Tariff of 1828 or the Tariff of Abominations. Earlier in the year, Adams proposed a high tariff on imported manufactured goods, the majority of which stemmed from New England, in order to protect the nation’s economy and keep American goods competitive with European goods. History states that many of Jackson’s supporters, mainly residing in the South, opposed this bill because it didn’t consider for the needs of Southern farmers; agriculturists relied on manufactured goods and wanted them at cheap prices but the profits from home-grown goods couldn’t afford these amenities. Therefore, they devised their own plan; they decided to amend Adams’s bill to include a tax on the raw materials that the Northern manufacturers needed. These plotters believed that the bill would ultimately be defeated in Congress; however, they were wrong. The extremely high tariff was so deeply despised by the south that Vice President Calhoun drafted the South Carolina Exposition claiming that the tariff was “unconstitutional, oppressive, and unjust.”
Adams’s decision of passing the Tariff of Abominations in 1828 affected the administration of Andrew Jackson, Adams’s successor. Adams created this infuriating tax and left it to Jackson; giving him the tariff’s negative outcomes. The nation broke out into rebellion and Jackson neared warfare, until Henry Clay’s proposal of the Tariff of 1833. This tariff suggested a lowering of the high tax by 10% over a period of eight years; and the proposal was quickly passed through Congress and made into law. This was the only lasting effect of Adams’s presidency.
In conclusion, Adams’s decisions made while in office didn’t leave the nation any better off than its condition before entering office. Adams was left with the daunting task of picking up where James Monroe left off. The time of Monroe’s presidency was notoriously known as the Era of Good Feelings and Adams had a hard time filling in his footsteps. Despite Adams’s addition of a road extending westward and a canal, he wasn’t able to accomplish some of his more ambitious goals. If anything, the Tariff of Abominations, the most negative outcome of Adams’s presidency, was the most memorable of all his decisions. Overall, Adams’s administration didn’t leave the nation in any better of a position; therefore, his presidency wholly deserves a C grading.
Works Cited:
"6. John Quincy Adams 1825 - 1829." The White House. 2009. Oct 3 2009. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnquincyadams/>
DeGregorio, William. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. Fort Lee: Barricade. 2005.